Ciminelli finalizes funding for Conventus

Ciminelli Real Estate Corp. has finalized the financing for its Conventus medical research and office building in downtown Buffalo, obtaining most of the cost from a pair of loans from M&T Bank Corp. and First Niagara Financial Group to move the project a step closer to completion.

Ciminelli will take out $73 million in construction and permanent loans from the two Buffalo-based banks, along with $18 million in a “convertible debt” investment from Seavest Healthcare Properties LLC, a private investment management firm. The remaining $9 million of the $100 million cost will come from the developer itself.

“The unique nature of this project’s financing is indicative of its significance in the community,” Paul F. Ciminelli, president and CEO of Ciminelli Real Estate, said in a statement.

“Having an out-of-town lender and both M&T and First Niagara involved in the deal underscores the critical role Conventus plays in the overall vision of the Medical Campus and Western New York,” Ciminelli said. “Everyone joined forces for the good of the community.”

The building, now under construction at 1001 Main St., near Kaleida Health’s Buffalo General Medical Center, is designed to link key buildings on the Medical Campus and provide a forum for collaboration among doctors, researchers and academics at the University at Buffalo’s School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

The six-story building will house clinical, practical and research office space, as well as support services for the new John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital to be built next door. It will be anchored by Kaleida and UBMD.

Construction began in April with site work and is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2015.